Bb peashooter

ABSTRACT

A kit for shooting a BB through a peashooter, comprising a tubular peashooter with an opening in the tube that has an opening diameter, inner and outer walls, a tube thickness, and a tube length, and a BB with a BB diameter.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to peashooters, and in particular, to anovel projectile for use with a peashooter.

BACKGROUND

A peashooter is a toy version of a blowgun or blowpipe. It is used asfollows: A projectile, usually a dried pea, seed, or spitball, is loadedinto one end of a generally 8 inch tube, the other end of which is blownthrough forcefully by the user. The force of the air launches theprojectile, which may be sent in any direction by positioning of thetube. Peashooters have long been a favorite of both children and youngat heart adults, but the types of ammunition heretofore used arelimited. Moreover, as most of this ammunition is irregular in shape, thetrajectory of the projectile may be difficult to anticipate, makingaiming difficult. Therefore there is a need for a new type of peashooterammunition that is regular in shape and smooth.

Pea shooting is a competitive sport, notably in the United Kingdom. Insuch competitions, particularly the World Peashooting Championship inWitcham, Cambridgeshire, the peashooter is 12 inches long and acompetition grade pea must have a diameter of no more than 5.5 mm.Anything larger than that diameter or irregular so as to exceed thatmeasurement in some dimension will tend to stick in the peashooter. Aspeas are not regular, this is a common problem with that traditionalammunition. Competitors may select their ammunition within theselimitations. As a smooth, regular shape with no dimples or wrinkles ispreferable for straight trajectory, top competitors often choose driedmaple peas, although this ammunition still suffers from some of thedrawbacks mentioned above.

BB guns are another common recreational shooting device. They are a typeof air gun designed to shoot BBs, which are small, usually sphericalprojectiles, usually used for bird hunting. Most BBs used for birdhunting are made of a metal, such as steel. Child versions of BB gunsmay be less powerful, and may use BBs made of less destructive material,such as plastic. Airsoft BBs, for example, are larger than most metalBBs, plastic, and are of a standard size of approximately 6 mm indiameter. They are perfectly regular and have no sharp edges.

Although perhaps visually similar, airsoft BBs used in BB guns and peasused in pea shooters are very different projectiles. Airsoft BBs areregular and uniform in their sphericity, their weight, their diameter,their density, and the hardness of their outer shell. Peas, even driedpeas, will vary in every one of these metrics. This has made peas anunpredictable projectile in their use with peashooters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a BB peashooter kit for shooting BBs through apeashooter. In its most basic form, the BB peashooter kit of the presentinvention includes a peashooter and at least one BB.

The preferred peashooter is a 12 inch long tube, but may be between 6and 18 inches long in some embodiments. The use of the preferred 12 inchtube over more standard 8 inch peashooters allows for better aiming asthe end of the tube is further from the user's mouth so that he or shemay better assess exactly where it is pointing and what angle andpositioning would best aim toward the target. The tube is preferablymade of a rigid plastic, but may be made of a variety of materials. Thetube has an inner wall, an outer wall, and an opening. The tube'sopening should fit fairly snugly around the BB of the kit so that thereis only a nominal space around the BB between the BB and the inner wallsof the peashooter. As discussed below, the preferred BB is approximately0.236 inches in diameter, which is the diameter of a standard airsoftBB. The preferred tube opening is therefore preferably approximately0.240 inches in diameter, but may be up to 0.400 inches. The tube has athickness around the opening between the inner and outer walls of thetube that is preferably between 1 and 2 mm. The plastic that makes upthe tube may be of any color and may be translucent. A logo or otherwriting may be included on the outside of the tube.

The preferred BB of the present invention is an airsoft BB, which isspherical and made of plastic. In some non-preferred embodiments, the BBis pointed and may be made of materials other than plastic. Thepreferred BB is approximately 0.236 inches in diameter but may be of anydiameter so long as the diameter of the BB is less than the diameter ofthe opening of the tube of the kit. The preferred spherical BB isperfectly regular, so it will have a more predictable trajectory thanprojectiles used with peashooters heretofore. Unlike an irregular pea, aBB moving through a peashooter is like a bullet going through a gunbarrel, so the BB may be shot better and at longer ranges. Additionally,the perfect roundness of the BB and the standard size of the BB withinthe standard size of the peashooter avoid getting ammunition stuck inthe peashooter, which is a common problem with peas as ammunition.

The small difference between the diameter of the BB and the openingdiameter of the tube of the peashooter that creates only a very smallspace between the BB and the inner wall of the peashooter is a keyaspect of the present invention. As discussed above, projectiles usedwith peashooters in the past, such as peas, vary greatly from projectileto projectile, or from pea to pea. One pea may barely fit within thepeashooter so that it may get stuck within the peashooter. The next mayhave a diameter half of that of the peashooter's opening so that much ofthe air used as a propellant goes right through the tube without beingused as force for the pea. In such situations, the trajectory of the peais very unpredictable because of the reactions between the air streamsgoing straight through the tube and those that are used to propel thesmall pea. Having uniform sized BBs used with a uniform sized peashooter eliminates such uncertainties. Moreover, with only a very smallspace between the BB and the inner wall of the peashooter, almost all ofthe force from the air is being used to create sufficient pressurebehind the BB to propel the BB forcibly and predictably every time. Somespace is necessary to overcome or eliminate frictional forces betweenthe BB and the inner wall of the peashooter, but having only a smallspace is sufficient for this while also providing the benefits discussedabove.

In use, a kit user places a BB in his or her mouth. The kit useracquires a target. The user aims the peashooter in the direction of thetarget. The user then blows through the peashooter in the aim position,propelling the BB from the user's mouth, through the peashooter, andtoward the target. The kit might also be used by simply placing a BBwithin the tube, aiming, and blowing through the tube, without placingthe BB in the user's mouth. One of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that there are several ways in which the peashooter kit may beused to project the BB from the peashooter.

The BB peashooter kit of the present invention can be used as aprecision shooting instrument that may be used in competitions. Theuniformity and resultant predictability of the elements of the kit allowpeashooting to become an act of skill, rather than just luck. Devoteesmay practice peashooting with the BB peashooter kit of the presentinvention so as to learn the intricacies of the combination of thepeashooter and BBs and aiming techniques therewith. The inventorenvisions competitions using the kit where everyone is on a levelplaying field as far as equipment. Every competitor will use the kit ofthe present invention, so that no competitor is using irregular ornon-uniform elements that have made peashooting so unpredictablehistorically.

The BB peashooter kit of the present invention may be used forpromotional events and marketing. Like the competitions described above,the inventor also envisions promotional events using BB peashooter kitsof the present invention. A local company may sponsor “BB peashooting”night at a local bar, for example. The local company could display theirlogo on the peashooter, as described above. Every person who comes inthe bar would be handed a BB peashooter kit upon entering and then havean evening of fun peashooting BBs at other patrons. Such events couldalso be at company picnics, children's parties, and field days, forexample. These aspects of the present invention are not meant to beexclusive and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwhen read in conjunction with the following description and accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a blowup perspective view of the kit of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a cutaway view along the length of the peashooter of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2B is an exploded view of an end of the peashooter of the presentinvention with a BB of the present invention disposed therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, kit 10 of the present invention is shown. Thisrendering is not to scale. For clarity, opening diameter 20 and BBdiameter 24 are shown large enough that it is unwieldy to show length 22of tube 16 to scale. Kit 10 includes peashooter 12 and at least one BB14. Peashooter 12 is made up of a plastic tube 16. Tube 16 has opening18 around which is tube thickness 28. Tube thickness 28 is preferablybetween 1 and 2 mm. Opening 18 has opening diameter 20 and tube 16 haslength 22. Opening diameter 20 is preferably 0.240 inches, but may rangefrom any diameter greater than BB diameter 24, as discussed below, to0.400 inches. Length 22 of tube 16 is preferably 12 inches, but mayrange between 6 and 18 inches. Logo 26 may be disposed upon tube 16.

BB 14 has BB diameter 24, which is always less than opening diameter 20.Preferred BB diameter 24 is 0.236 inches, but may be any diameter solong as it is less than opening diameter 20. BB diameter 24 ispreferably not very much less than opening diameter 20, however, becausethe greater the difference between BB diameter 24 and opening diameter20, the more air is wasted when a user of kit 10 blows through tube 16.That is to say that the larger the space around BB 14 within tube 16,the more air is blown through tube 16 without being used to propel BB14. The additional air dynamics within tube 16 may also affecttrajectory of BB 14, thus disrupting aim.

Now referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, small space 30 is emphasized. Space 30is the small space between BB 14 and inner wall 32 of tube 16. Outerwall 34 of tube 16 is shown as a solid line and inner wall 32 of tube 16is shown as a dashed line. BB 14 is shown within tube 16. It is clearthat space 30, although present, is nominal.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detailwith reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versionswould be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.Therefore, the spirit and scope of the description should not be limitedto the description of the preferred versions contained herein.

1. A kit for shooting a BB through a peashooter, comprising: apeashooter comprising a tube, an opening in said tube with an openingdiameter, an inner wall, an outer wall, a tube thickness, and a tubelength; and at least one BB, wherein each of said at least one BBcomprises a BB diameter.
 2. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidtube of said peashooter is comprised of rigid plastic.
 3. The kit asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said tube thickness is between 1 and 2 mm.4. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tube length is between 6and 18 inches.
 5. The kit as claimed in claim 4, wherein said tubelength is 1 foot.
 6. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BBdiameter is less than said opening diameter.
 7. The kit as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said opening diameter is between 0.237 inches and 0.400inches.
 8. The kit as claimed in claim 7, wherein said opening diameteris 0.240 inches.
 9. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BBdiameter is 0.236 inches.
 10. The kit as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a space around said BB between said BB and said inner wall ofsaid tube when said BB is disposed within said tube, wherein said spaceis nominal.
 11. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB is anairsoft BB.
 12. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BB iscomprised of plastic.
 13. The kit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said BBis spherical.
 14. The kit as claimed in claim 1, further comprising alogo disposed upon said tube of said peashooter.